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In the message open our hearts and our ears to your word in the name of Jesus Christ. I pray amen Amen all right well We're there in Matthew chapter 28 and I'd like you to go with me to the book of Acts just real quickly if you're there in Matthew you're just gonna Turn a few pages over past the book of Mark past the book of Luke past the book of John into the book of Acts Acts chapter number one and this morning. We are not only celebrating the resurrection of Christ We're also beginning a brand new series called. Let us reason together and while you go to ads I'd like to read for you out of Isaiah chapter 1 Just to read to you from the text that we get the title for the series you go to acts 1 I'll read to you out of Isaiah chapter 1 in verse 18 the Bible says this come now And this is God speaking he says and let us reason together Sayeth the Lord though your sins be as scarlet They shall be white as snow though. They be red like crimson They shall be as wool and in Isaiah 118 we have this invitation from God He says come now and let us reason together that word reason or Reasoning is defined as the action of thinking about something in a logical or sensible way And I want you to understand as we begin this series and as we go through this series in the next several weeks Is that our faith is? founded in Truth that is reasonable our faith is founded in truth That is logical and sensible and what we mean by that is that our faith our beliefs the things that we believe As New Testament Christians, we're not afraid of that going up against logic and reason in fact We and we're invited by God to reason with him in regards to these things for that reason Over the next three weeks we're gonna spend some time Reasoning together some of the major beliefs of Christianity today We're gonna talk about the reasoning the resurrection and next week We'll learn about reasoning the Word of God and the Bible and and I want to encourage you if you've if you've had doubts about The Word of God if you've ever made the statement or had somebody make the statement to you And you weren't sure how to answer it when someone says to you about the Bible well That's just a book written by man next week We're gonna talk about and we're gonna prove how we know that the Bible was not written by man and could not Have been written by man, and it'll be logical reasons It'll be reasons that will make sense then we'll end these series talking about creation And why we believe that God created the heavens and the earth now you're there in Acts 1 and today We're gonna be talking about the resurrection I want you to notice what the book of Acts and how the book of Acts begins Acts chapter 1 in verse 1 and I want You to understand something about the Bible today We as believers look at the Bible, and we call it the Bible and praise the Lord for the Bible I love the Bible and and even the New Testament We will look at the writings of the New Testament Christians, and we see it as the New Testament scriptures But what you need to understand is that when the writers of the New Testament? Wrote the writings that ended up becoming the New Testament They were not sitting down to write the Bible for example the book of Acts was written by a man a physician By the name of Luke he also wrote the gospel according to Luke when Luke sat down to write The book of Acts he did not sit down and say what I'm gonna write scripture now I'm gonna write the acts according to the Apostles he actually began by just writing and what he was doing was he was writing a Letter to a friend now we believe that the Holy Spirit used him and that the Holy Spirit spoke through him and that God gave us Scripture through his writing But when Luke sat down to write he basically sat down to write a letter to a friend Let me show that to you Acts chapter 1 look at verse 1 Notice what Luke says he says the former treaties have I made O Theophilus now He's writing to his friend Theophilus, and he talks about the fact that he had written him earlier He said the former treaties in reference to the book of Luke what we now call the gospel according to Luke He said I wrote you the book of Luke O Theophilus of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach He said I wrote you that former letter To you my friend a personal letter to you my friend Theophilus that you might know What Jesus began both to do and teach notice verse 2 until the day in which he was taken up After that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandment unto the Apostles whom he had chosen notice verse 3 He says to whom also he showed himself alive I want you to notice what Luke is writing to his friend here Theophilus He says hey I wrote to you about Jesus of all that he began both to do and teach and he said I wrote to you and an orderly account until the day That he was taken up until his ascension verse 3 And he says to whom also he showed himself alive And I want you to notice what he says whom he showed himself alive after his passion. Don't miss these words by many infallible proves He says there were many infallible the word infallible means incapable of making a mistake and capable of being wrong He says there was proves that proved the resurrection of Christ that make it an in pal an infallible truth He said being seen of them 40 days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God So when we talk about the reasoning the resurrection or why the resurrection is a reasonable belief It's reasonable because of the many infallible truths and what I'd like to do this morning. I would like to give you three logical arguments three Reasonable arguments for the resurrection of Christ now before I do that though Let me just read to you or quote to you Hebrews 11 6 Hebrews 11 6 says this you don't have to turn there You're in the book of Acts in fact I would like you to Go back to the book of Luke Luke chapter 1 if you go backwards you go past the book of John into the book of Luke and while you turn there Let me read to you from Hebrews 11 6 Hebrews 11 6 says this but without faith It is impossible to please him for he that cometh to God Must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him The Bible says that without faith we cannot but without faith It is impossible to please him to please God now We can't even come to God unless we believe that he is so this sermon and the sermon series is not meant to take Away from the idea of faith because the truth is that you must come to God in faith But here's what I know about you. You have faith in something You have beliefs in something if you say well, I don't believe in Christ Yes But you believe in something and there are some things that you do not understand that you cannot Necessarily prove you can't prove that the earth was created millions of years ago by a big bang explosion You really have to accept that by faith you say well, I read that in a book well, you know what I read what I believe in a book to and And and you believe it by faith you accept it by faith And here's all I'm telling you what you have to come down to is what is reasonable What is logical and our faith and here's all I'm telling you is that our faith will stand up to reason and our faith Will stand up to logic. So I'd like to give you three I'd like to give you three arguments three arguments as to why the Resurrection is Reasonable and if you're taking notes, I'd love for you to write these down on the back of the course of the week There's a place for you to write down some notes. You can jot these things down you can study them out for yourself and You you can that way you can share them with someone else so you can look them up yourself now Let me say this if you brought a guest if you have someone with you and they're your guests I want everyone to be able to see what we're going to see from Scripture. We're gonna flip a few pages So if you're sitting next to a guest maybe you can help them get to the different passages so that they can see it because Seeing is believing and we don't want to just I don't want you to take my word for it I want you to see it from the Word of God So three reasons three reasons why the resurrection of Christ is reasonable reason number one The resurrection is reasonable because of the eyewitness Accounts the resurrection is reasonable because of the eyewitness Accounts I want you to notice and I want you to understand that throughout the New Testament When we are told of the resurrection We are not told to believe the resurrection because the Bible says so although the Bible does say so we are told to believe in the resurrection because I witnesses Documented what they saw they wrote it down for future generations and those letters those documents those testimonies Ended up being put together and became what you and I know as the New Testament But it was letters written by friends Two other friends telling them of what they had seen and what they had Experienced notice Luke chapter 1 we read the first part of Acts chapter 1 the second letter that Luke wrote to his friend Theophilus Let's look at the beginning of Luke chapter 1 the first letter that he wrote to Theophilus knows what he says Luke chapter 1 and verse 1 he says for as much as many Have taken in hand to set forth in order notice what he says. He says to set forth in order a Declaration of those things that are most surely believed among us He said there are many people who have taken in hand who have made it their Task to put in order the things that we believe notice verse 2 He says even as they delivered them unto us which notice what he says He says which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and here's what Luke would say Luke would say I was not one of the original Apostles I was not one of the original disciples. In fact, I I kind of got brought into this thing Later, I heard about the resurrection of Christ and I didn't necessarily believe it or I didn't necessarily understand that I didn't really know if it was true. And here's what Luke says as he writes this letter to Theophilus He said I went around and interviewed the eyewitnesses Notice verse 2 he says even as they delivered them unto us which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and Ministers of the word it seemed good to me also having had perfect Understanding of all things from the very first to write unto thee. Here's what he says. He says I Interviewed the eyewitnesses. I looked at their credibility. I looked at the circumstances when I understood it He said when I had perfect understanding of all things from the very first to write unto thee in order most excellent Theophilus that thou mightest know notice what he says in verse 4 that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been Instructed I want you to notice That Luke does not write to his friend Theophilus and he says I want you to believe in Jesus Christ Because I said so or I want you to believe in Jesus Christ Because there's a myth or a story He said I'm telling you what I know is true because I sat down and spoke with the eyewitnesses Who experienced it who saw it and now I'm writing and I'm documenting it and I'm declaring it to you So that you would know the certainty of those things Wherein thou hast been Instructed and here's what I'd like you to know you're there in Luke go to 1st Corinthians chapter 15 You're in Luke. You're gonna go past John Acts Romans 1 Corinthians Luke John Acts Romans 1 Corinthians Here's what I would like you to know. This is a theme throughout the New Testament The theme throughout the New Testament is to have faith in Christ and you might ask well, why should we have faith in Christ? Here's why we should have faith in Christ because I witnesses Saw him rise from the dead. There were people who saw in him die They saw him buried and three days later, they saw him resurrected a few days later They were having breakfast with him on a beach a few days later. They witnessed the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ the New Testament account of the resurrection was documented by eyewitnesses and this is a theme Throughout the New Testament are there in 1st Corinthians 15 look at verse number one You guys can just turn me down a hair. I'd appreciate that 1st Corinthians 15 in verse 1 notice what the Bible says 1st Corinthians 15 in verse 1 you have Luke John Acts Romans 1st Corinthians 1st Corinthians 15 1 again. This is a letter This is a letter that Paul wrote to a group of believers a church at Corinth notice what he says in 1st Corinthians 15 1 moreover brethren. I Declare unto you the gospel the word gospel means the good news which I preached unto you Which also ye have received and where and you stand by which also ye are saying he said he said I preached to you This message you receive this message you stand on this message You were saved by this message if we keep in memory what I preached unto you unless ye believed in vain verse 3 What's the message for I delivered unto you first of all? That which also that which I also received Notice there's three parts of this message how that number one Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures number two verse four and that he was buried and Number three he rose again the third day according to the scriptures I want you to notice Paul says here's the message that I preach. Here's the message that you receive Here's the message by which you stand. Here's the message that saves you it is the gospel It is the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ He says he was he died and he was buried and he rose again the third day according to the scriptures But I want you to notice he doesn't end there He doesn't say just believe it cuz I said so He doesn't say just believe it cuz cuz this is what you should believe notice verse 5 Then he gives them the proof of the eyewitnesses verse 5 He says and that he talking about the resurrected Christ was seen of Cephas. That's Simon Peter He says look not only did he rise from the dead, but he was seen of Cephas then of the twelve and After that, he was seen notice of above 500 brethren at once of whom the greater part remain unto this present But some are fallen asleep after that he was seen of James that's referring to his half brother Who by the way did not believe on him during the ministry of Jesus Christ? It's interesting when you say the Gospels his brothers did not believe on him Even while he was performing miracles, even while he was teaching great truth They did not believe on him, but when they watched him die and then they met him resurrected they became believers He says he was seen of James then of all the Apostles and last of all verse 8 He was seen of me. Paul says I saw the resurrected Christ if you remember Paul was a persecutor of the church He was not a believer But when he saw the resurrected Christ he says and last of all you see to me He says also as one born out of due time. He says I was late to the party But I saw him I'm an eyewitness and in the Bible and the New Testament gives us this idea that you're not just to believe in in in Christ just because we said so that you are to believe in Christ because the New Testament really actually is an Account a declaration a collection of documents of people who were eyewitnesses to the resurrection who? Documented what they Saw now you're there in 1st Corinthians I'd like you to go to 1st John chapter 1 if you start at the end of the New Testament Where the book of Revelation is and you head backwards you're gonna go past revelation past Jude Which is just one chapter past 3rd set and 2nd John which are one chapter as well, and then you'll find the book of 1st John towards the end of The New Testament you'll find these you'll find 1st John so you're gonna go backwards Some theories out there Against the resurrection people who do not believe in Christianity who do not believe in the resurrection of Christ They've got some theories as to how Jesus or the story of the resurrection Came about or Can't came to be one theory is the stolen body theory and the stolen body theory states this that the story of the resurrection came about after the body of Jesus was stolen by his followers and Rumors were circulated that he had resurrected so basically the the followers of Jesus I was of Jesus stole the body buried it somewhere else then rumors began to circulate that the body was missing the body was not in the tomb and And and then people began to say well he must have resurrected he must have resurrected and that just because the body was missing People assumed a resurrection, but there really was not a resurrection and by the way the Bible actually Tells us that this is something that happened, and I asked you to go to first John there I want you to be in first John We're gonna look at it and keep your finger right there But go back to Matthew Matthew 28 where we read to begin the service Matthew's the first book in the New Testament should be fairly Easy to find keep your finger there in first John We're gonna go right back to it But go to Matthew 28 and look at verse number 11 Matthew 28 and verse number 11 notice what the Bible says in Matthew 28 11 Now when they were going behold Some of the watch came into the city and showed unto the chief priests all the things that were done So remember there was a watch given by the Roman Empire to protect the tomb to protect against this very thing That the disciples might steal the body and claim a resurrection Soldiers were put on guard To protect the tomb from this very thing from the followers of God from the followers of Jesus Taking the tomb, but then he resurrected and they come in and they tell the story notice verse 12 And when they were assembled with the elders and had taken counsel They gave large money unto the soldiers saying say ye his disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept now There's a few issues with this problem if you're familiar with Roman history or if you're just familiar with the New Testament you remember that whenever a Guard allowed a prisoner to go their life was taken in place of the prisoner Remember the Philippian jailer when God performs that miracle or all the doors open in the jail. He's getting ready to kill himself Why because he thinks that all the prisoners have escaped and Paul has to stop him and say no, we're all here don't do thyself no harm and the story that these guards would just be sleeping and Allow the disciples to steal the body of Christ when that's what they were told to guard against is not a logical It's not a logical story. It doesn't make sense that these guards would fail Why were they all sleeping at the same time? Don't they have watches? Don't they take breaks? Don't they have times when one sleeps and one stands guard? I mean, isn't that just normal? reasonable logical military guard strategy notice verse 13 saying Say ye his disciples came by night and stole him away while we slept and if this come to the governor's ears We will persuade him and secure you so he said look if the governor hears about it will protect you because we know that if you say that you're sleeping on the Job, and you let a prisoner go Even worse a dead one That's gonna really not be good for your career. In fact, the you're gonna be worthy of death Look at verse 15 So they took the money and did as they were taught and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day And you know what? It's commonly reported amongst those who criticize the Bible today. They will say well it was They stole the body The disciples stole the body. They buried it somewhere else people saw an empty tomb They assumed the resurrection which is a silly argument to make look if you saw an empty room an empty tomb Would you assume a resurrection if you saw an empty tomb wouldn't you assume that somebody moved the body? Wouldn't you assume that somebody stole the body? I don't think that you would walk into an empty tomb and say well he must have resurrected No you because here's the thing people expect dead people to do what dead people do which has stayed dead The assumption would have been that somebody stole the body you say well Then how did the story of the resurrection go forth? Here's why because it wasn't just an empty tomb now look the empty tomb played a role But it was because people by the hundreds were coming out into the community and saying I have seen the risen Savior Paul would say that even five hundred five hundred at one time saw the resurrected Christ And here's what's interesting They say they saw They say they ate with them. They say they touched him They say they felt him another theory against the resurrection is the hallucination theory the hallucinations theory states that the disciples were Infatuated cult followers of Christ who went through mental strains and trauma when they saw their cult leader killed before their eyes these mentally unstable disciples then Hallucinated and thought they saw the resurrected Christ basically they had visions where they thought they saw Jesus and they didn't actually see Jesus. Here's the problem with that the problem with that is that they actually touched him Are you there in 1st John 1 look at verse 1 notice what John would write in his account? He would say this that which was from the beginning Now if you're familiar with the Word of God that should remind you of John 1 in the beginning was the word the word was With Christ the word the word was with God, excuse me The word was God all things were made by him He goes on to say that the word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory John 1 1 says and that which was from the beginning Notice what he says which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes notice Which we have looked upon and our hands have handled up the word of life and it's kind of silly But they'll point to they'll say there's modern-day examples of this They'll point to Elvis Presley, right and they'll say Elvis Presley was was was a a Pop icon and and pop culture loved him He was the king of rock and roll and people loved him and they were infatuated by him and after the death of Elvis Presley Many people came out and they saw they thought they saw him. They saw him at a gas station They saw him at a diner. They saw him at a restaurant having lunch with Tupac or whatever You know they saw here and they saw him there and they'll say see people can go through men can be mentally unstable and and and and and Think they saw something that they didn't see now Here's the thing though It is true that there are many Elvis sightings and though it is true that it might be easy for us to dismiss 500 separate Elvis sightings over the last 30 and 40 years. Here's what would make the difference for Elvis Not if there were 500 Elvis sightings But if 500 people said they saw Elvis and they touched Elvis and they had lunch with Elvis all at the same time See the the reliability Of the resurrection does not fall on the fact that we have faith in faith and please understand this The Bible does not call for you to have faith in faith. The Bible calls for you to have faith in Christ and That is not a blind faith Even though the Bible says that faith is a substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen We are not asked to blindly follow Christ. We are told That there were eyewitnesses who witnessed his resurrection and people will say they'll say I'll believe the Bible when you prove it to me scientifically You know those of us that study the Bible and know about we kind of roll our eyes and we think you think you think You sound smart, but you don't you kind of sound like an idiot Yeah, well you can prove to me the Bible scientifically, you know And and if you're familiar with the scientific method or the scientific model of approving things, you know that the scientific method, right? It's that scientifically you should be able to make a prediction have a theory. You should be able to test that prediction you should be able to Have a result that is measurable and then you should be able to replicate it The scientific method is you should be able to make a prediction. You should be able to test it Predict it test it verify it and then do it again. That's the scientific method. Here's what's interesting You do not prove the accuracy of history through the scientific method You know, you don't prove whether something actually happened through the scientific method. Here's the problem with history You can't predict it and test it and replicate it Okay, the way that you prove history is not through the scientific method the way that you would History is the same way that a lawyer would prove the eyewitness account in a court case You look at the sources you look at the credibility of the sources you look at circumstances around those Testimonies to see whether there are credible circumstances that quote would corroborate the story That's how you determine whether something actually happened in history and here's all I'm telling you by even our judicial standards today if you had 500 people show up to a court case hold their right hand in the air Swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth and say we saw the resurrected Christ that would stand up in court It's reasonable You say well, you're not proving. I still have to believe by faith I would never take that away from you. You have to believe you have to have faith without faith It is impossible to please him. All I'm telling you it is a reasonable faith Say why is the resurrection reasonable? It's reasonable. It's reasonable Because of the accounts of the eyewitnesses go to 2nd Peter chapter 1 you're there in 1st John Just the book right before that is 2nd Peter chapter 1 2nd Peter chapter 1 look at verse 16 2nd Peter chapter 1 in verse 16 2nd Peter 1 16 says this for we have not followed cunningly devised fables The word cunningly means a clever or deceit or clever or deceitful Devised means carefully thought out or planned a fable is a story We have not followed cunningly devised fables notice Peter doesn't say hey believe in the story because of the story He doesn't say believe in faith because of faith. He says no believe in Christ and he says this is not a cunningly devised Fable, this is not a clever or deceitful Carefully thought-out story that we made up he says for we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made note unto you the power and coming of the Lord Jesus Christ notice, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty and We as Christians do not believe in having faith in faith We believe in having faith in Christ, and we believe in having faith in Christ because the resurrection of Christ is a reasonable Assumption it's a reasonable belief you say why is it reasonable well because of the eyewitnesses Account and let me say this the New Testament was written the New Testament was written by eyewitnesses who Documented what they experienced during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses go back to 1st Corinthians 15 And I realize we're moving to a lot of passages But I I need you to kind of stay with us because I want you to get all of these things 1st Corinthians 15 1st Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 6 says this 1st Corinthians 15 and verse 6 we were just there, but I want you to notice what Paul says he talks about the different eyewitnesses He says that the disciples saw him and Peter saw him He said I saw he said there was 500 view I saw him at once 1st Corinthians 15 and verse 6 He says this after that he was seen of about 500 brethren at once notice He says of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are falling asleep He says he was seen a 500 brethren at once and he says of whom the greater part remain unto this present and here's what I want you to know about the New Testament. It was written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses He says there was 500 people that saw him Peter Paul would say and you can go talk to them yourself. In fact, that's what Luke did He said they are alive right now So it's not that the Bible was written decades and hundreds or thousands of years after the fact It was written by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses And by the way, there was a missing body in the tomb It would have been easy for the Pharisees to when this rumor began to be spread when people began to come into the streets of Jerusalem Saying I've seen the Savior. I've seen Jesus resurrected. I've seen the resurrected It would have been easy for them to open the tomb produce the body and say there he is Okay, so the the the missing body definitely plays a part But even more than that is the eyewitness account and it was an eyewitness account that was written down by eyewitnesses during During the lifetime of other eyewitnesses. He says of whom the greater part remain unto this Present now go to Matthew 24 Matthew 24 first book in the New Testament should be fairly easy to find Matthew 24 And you say okay pastor Well, here's the thing Paul says that there was 500 witnesses that saw him and that they all remain until this day But then we have to trust Paul for that We have to trust Paul You know to know that it's true How can we know that the Bible wasn't written decades later or hundreds of years later the New Testament? how do we know that it was written during the Time of by eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other eyewitnesses Well, here's one proof that's outside of the New Testament writers that I'd like to just bring to your attention and it is this In the New Testament, we have a documented prophecy and prediction of the Lord Jesus Christ We find it in Matthew 24 in verse 1 knows what it says Matthew 24 verse 1 and he went out and departed from the temple notice Jesus and disciples are at the temple and his disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple So they're touring the temple and the temple site notice verse 2 and Jesus said unto them. Here's a prediction or a prophecy from Christ He says see not all these things Barely I say unto you there shall not be left here one stone upon another That shall not be thrown now Jesus gives a very specific prophecy that the temple that they were looking at would be Destroyed and that there would not be left one stone upon another here's what's interesting Jesus made that prediction sometime between 30 ad 33 ad The temple was destroyed by a Roman general by the name of Titus in 70 ad the prediction of Jesus Christ was fulfilled Exactly the way he said it would say well, what does that have to do with anything? Here's what that has to do with that fulfillment is not documented in the New Testament Now if if the New Testament writers Were writing scripture after 70 ad and they failed to mention the fact. Hey, by the way Remember Jesus predicted the temple was gonna be destroyed. Well, guess what? It just got destroyed last week in your face Right if it's such a clear win it's such a clear proof of Jesus being who he said he was that if the people who were writing the New Testament failed to mention that Jesus out of his own mouth made a prediction of the temple and 30 years later It came to be if they failed to mention that fact then they were really not good founders of a faith you say well Why would they not mention it? Because look if Jesus predicts something and it happens you would think that they would tell us about it I mean they it'd be a huge failure for them not to say it happened Just what he said say well pastor. Why isn't it in the New Testament? Here's why it's not in the New Testament because by the time the temple was destroyed the New Testament was already completed it's not documented in the New Testament because the New Testament was already done and That would tell us that the New Testament was completed by 70 ad Not a hundred years not 200 years not 300 years after Christ But 30 years after Christ which affirms what Paul said that it was written by Eyewitnesses during the lifetime of other Eyewitnesses and that doesn't take away from faith It just should help you understand that our faith is reasonable Our faith is logical you say why believe in the resurrection? Well, it's a reasonable belief you say why because of because of the Eyewitness accounts, but there's other reasons. Let me give you another one go to Acts chapter number 7 7 I'm just trying to give you some reasons Why the resurrection is reasonable one is because of the account of the eyewitnesses here's the second reason because of the martyrdom of the disciples Because of the fact that the people Who rushed the streets of Jerusalem to tell their story of a resurrected Christ all Died for what they believe let me show you that in Scripture Acts chapter 7 verse 55 Acts chapter 7 You have Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Acts chapter 7 verse 55 notice what the Bible says Acts chapter 7 in verse 55 says this but he talked about Stephen being full of the Holy Ghost looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God and said behold I see the heavens open and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God and They talking about the Jews cried out with a loud voice and stalked their ears and ran upon him with one accord and cast him out of the city and stoned him talking about Stephen and Witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet whose name was Saul and they stoned Stephen Calling upon God and saying Lord Jesus received my spirit And he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice Lord lay not this sin to their charge and when they had said this he The Bible says he fell asleep referring to the fact that he died Stephen was the first martyr that was documented in the New Testament after the Ascension of Christ go to Acts chapter 12 Acts chapter 12 look at verse 1 Acts chapter 12 and verse 1 says this Now about the time now about that time Herod the king Stretched forth his hand to Vax the word Vax means to cause distress He says to Vax certain of the church notice verse 2 and he killed James the brother of John with the sword one of the original Twelve James the brother of John. We've been reading a little bit of the writings of John He was put to death by Herod for his belief and for his unwillingness To recant the fact that he saw the resurrected Christ Look at verse 3 and because he saw it pleased the Jews he Herod proceeded further to take Peter Also, then were the days of unleavened bread and when he had apprehended him He put him in prison and delivered him for four to four quarantorians of soldiers to keep him intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people and The Bible here in the book of Acts documents for us that there was people in the early church who died for their beliefs You say well, I don't trust the Bible. Okay Well secular history tells us that every single one of the disciples died as a martyr except for John who lived to be an old man because he was exiled to the Isle of Patmos where he wrote the book of Revelation the Bible doesn't tell us this but the history tells us that Peter was executed in Rome and He was sentenced to a crucifixion He asked to be crucified upside down because he did not feel worthy to die the same death of the Resurrected Savior who he saw Resurrected and he was given permission and he was killed as a by crucifixion upside down The Bible doesn't tell us that secular history tells us that every one of the disciples Died for their belief and and their message of a resurrected Christ and people say this well pastor humanis Don't people die for a lie all the time and That's true People die for lies All of the time, but people generally don't lie die For lies that they made up see if my wife and I were to take our children from birth and Teach them a lie if we were to teach them that there is a unicorn on the moon and that unicorn is gone And we were and we taught them that from the day of their birth and we just brainwashed them with that idea It is possible that my kids would die for that lie because people do die for lies that they think Are true But you think I die? When I'm the for the lie of the unicorn on the moon when I'm the one who made that story up See the disciples all died They all died for one message study the book of Acts one message because they blitzed the streets of Jerusalem and said You killed him. We saw him resurrected and You will be held accountable by God for that message They were willing to die and all and you say well, yeah But I still need faith and I would never take that away from you All I'm telling you is this that the fact that these men were willing to die to be tortured for their belief They never recanted they never took back the fact that they would make up a story and then die for it does not make Reasonable sense because people die for lies all of the time, but they do not die for lies that they made up You say well is the resurrection reasonable? Is it a reasonable belief? Yeah, it's reasonable You say why because of the account of the eyewitnesses you say it's reasonable. Why because of The martyrdom of the disciples, let me give you a third reason you're there in Acts go back to Acts chapter 2 Acts chapter 2 Here's a third reason why the resurrection is reasonable and here's why? Because of the early and rapid growth of Christianity Because of the early and rapid growth of Christianity and you might say well I don't really believe that the New Testament was written by By 70 AD, you know, you told that story about the temple and whatever that doesn't necessarily prove anything But here's what you can't argue. You cannot argue the fact that Christianity experience rapid growth early in history You there in Acts 2 look at verse 41 and when they that gladly received his word were baptized this is 50 days after the ascension of Christ 90 days after the death and resurrection of Christ and They that gladly received his word were baptized and the same day There were added unto them about 3,000 souls and they continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayer the Bible tells us that 90 days after the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ there were 3,000 believers in Jerusalem who believed and publicly were baptized to affirm their belief in a Resurrected Christ look at Acts chapter 4 in verse 1 you're there in chapter 2 Just flip over a couple pages Acts chapter 4 in verse 1 says this and as they spake unto the people the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them being grieved that they taught the people notice what they were grieved about that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead and They laid hands on them and put them in a hole until the next day for it was not even tied verse 4 How be it many of them which heard the word believed and the number of the man was about? 5,000 believers 5,000 Christian 5,000 so in Acts 2 we have 3,000 in Acts 4 we have 5,000 blue verse 31 same chapter and when they had prayed the place was shaken where they were assembled together And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the Word of God with boldness and the multitude of them that Believed were of one heart and of one soul neither said any of them that ought of things which he possessed was his own But they had all things in common, and I just want you to notice verse 32 there It says and the multitude of them that believe Multitudes are believing look at Acts 5 and verse 12 Acts 5 and verse 12 and by the hand of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people and they were all With one accord in Solomon's porch and of the rest there's no man joined himself to them But the people magnified them verse 14 and believers were the more added to the Lord multitudes both of men and women Go to Acts 21 in verse 18 I'm just I'm just highlighting for you the fact that the book of Acts tells us that there was thousands of people Thousands of people that were believing on Jesus Christ that were believing that were being converted that were being saved and that were being baptized Paul Would come back to Jerusalem after his missionary journeys. He would come back to Jerusalem. He would eventually be Imprisoned by the Roman Empire and sent to go see Caesar But on his way back to Jerusalem James the half brother of Jesus met him now the pastor of the church there in Jerusalem a man who did not believe on Christ during his ministry, but believed on him after the resurrection and I want you to notice what James says to Paul on his way back to Jerusalem acts 21 verse 18 and the day following Paul went in with us unto James and All the elders were present and when he had saluted them He declared particularly the things that God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry notice verse 20 acts 21 20 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord and said unto him thou seeest brother how many? thousands of Jews there are which believe and they are all zealous of The law the book of Acts documents the fact that there was thousands and maybe even hundreds of thousands believers rapid and early growth of Christianity you say well, why does that matter here's why it matters because one of the theories against the resurrection of Christ is that Hero legend myth theory here's what the hero legend myth theory states It states that the account of the resurrection Came about after the story of Jesus over decades and even centuries of being told and retold had been Exaggerated and embellished. Here's a let me just read to you a little bit from an article called how great myths and legends were created Just by a man named James bonnet and he actually attacks the resurrection of Christ in this article But let me just read to you what he says about how the myths and legends are created He says the great myths and legends were not authored by individuals. They were stories and are today stories are Excuse me They are stories that today that are good night The great myths and legends were not authored by individuals the way stories are today That's what I meant to say but were evolved naturally and instinctively by unconscious processes in oral tradition Even if they started out as a made-up or true story Revelations or dreams they still ended up for long periods of time in oral traditions and That became the principal dynamic behind their creation The process went something like this it began with a real or imagined incident or event. That was Worth repeating something so intriguing that we were compelled to repeat it It was passed along by word of mouth from person to person and from generation to generation Until I had been told and retold millions of times and Existed in a hundred different versions around the world each time a story is retold it changes This is due to certain natural but curious tendencies of the mind the tendency for instance to remember things that make a strong impression and to forget things that don't impress us very strongly there is also a tendency to exaggerate or minimize to glorify or to enable to idealize or vilify and then he goes on to say this he says after only 40 to 80 years the oral traditions of Jesus had Made him the result of a virgin birth and had risen him from the dead So he what he's saying is this he says Jesus became God because after Centuries and decades of the story being told and retold it was embellished. It was exaggerated He never actually resurrected from the grave people just began to tell that story and that's how it became to be Here's an article from Scientific America called. What would it take to prove the resurrection? I'll just read one line for you, but the writer says this maybe they talking about the disciples reported only feeling Jesus in spirit and over the decades their testimony was altered to suggest that they saw Jesus in The flood so this hero legend myth teaches that Jesus was just a good guy. He was a prophet He was a great teacher people loved him and then he died and he stayed there but over the years and over the decades and over the centuries the story was told and retold told and retold told and retold it was exaggerated and it was embellished and eventually eventually, and they'll sometimes say it was Constantine who started the Roman Catholic Church in 312 AD it was actually Constantine and his zealous monks who actually turned Jesus into deity and put forth the story of The resurrected Christ here's a problem with that the problem with that is that myths and legends take a long time to develop But the Bible tells us the book of Acts tells us that there was hundreds and thousands and maybe even hundreds of thousands believers early early in the history of Christianity and you might say well, I have to trust the book of Acts for that What if the book of Acts is exaggerating okay? Well, how about this secular history tells us that there was early and rapid growth of Christianity is they prove it okay? I'll prove it to you You know a guy by the name of Nero He's a Roman Emperor Nero goes down in history as being the first Roman Emperor to systematically and strategically Persecute Christianity he organized a persecution against Christianity because Christianity had grown so much It was growing out of control. He needed to get a handle on it, so he began to persecute Christians Nero set Rome on fire Some people say he set Rome on fire some people say that he that Rome Just you know just burnt down, and he used that as an opportunity He blamed the burning of Rome upon Christians so that he would have an opportunity to persecute Christians you say What is that proof? Here's here's what this proves? Nero Felt the need to persecute Christianity because Christianity was growing at such a rapid pace During the time of his reign as an emperor now the Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ was birthed during the reign of Caesar Augustus History tells us that Caesar Augustus became Emperor in 27 BC 27 years before Christ He was the Emperor until 14 AD So about that he was the Emperor till about Jesus was a teenager from 14 AD to 37 AD We have the Roman Emperor Tiberius Tiberius was probably the Roman Emperor who was in charge during the Crucifixion of Christ from 37 AD to 41 AD we have the reign of Roman Emperor Caligula from 41 AD to 54 AD we have the reign of the Roman Emperor Claudius and from 54 AD to 68 AD Two years before the destruction of the temple we have the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero and here's all this proves that about 21 years after to 35 years after the death burial and resurrection of Christ Nero felt the need this is documented history to persecute Christianity because of its rapid growth You cannot get away from the fact you cannot get away from the fact that within two to three decades After the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ there were so many Thousands and maybe hundreds of thousands and maybe millions of believers in the Roman Empire that Nero felt the need to bring Persecution against them and here's all I'm telling you 20 years is not enough time to develop a myth 20 years is not enough time to develop a legend You say how in the world could there be? Hundreds of thousands of believers within 20 years of the death burial and resurrection of Christ it only happens one way Eyewitnesses took the streets of Jerusalem See here's the thing if I pulled Just a stranger off the street and tried to convince them of something that I witnessed with my own eyes I may not be very successful at that But if I took my wife if I took my mom and my dad my brother and my sister People who know me people who love me people who trust me people who know that I am of sound mind and I tell them Look I saw the resurrected Christ and it's not just me There's 500 of us and those people went out and told their friends and told their loved one That is how the growth of Christianity exploded exponentially 20 to 30 years After the death of your own resurrection of Christ you say what it still requires faith and I would never take that away from you But without faith it is impossible to please him for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him But all I'm telling you is this that we as Christians do not believe in having faith in faith We believe in having faith in Christ and that is not a blind faith. It is a reasonable faith Because of the eyewitness account it is a reasonable faith because of the martyr disciples It is a reasonable faith because of the rapid growth of early Christianity I'm gonna be ready to be done here in two minutes I just want to read a couple of verses to you You don't have to turn anywhere But I want to read to you the verse that I read to you when we began this sermon Isaiah 118 God says come now and let us reason together say the Lord. Here's what I think is interesting about this verse He says let's reason together and then he gives us a quote that we would use in regards to salvation He says though your sins be as scarlet. They shall be as white as snow though They be red like crimson They shall be as wool when God says that he wants to forgive you of your sins That he wants to take away your sins that he wants to wash away your sins He begins that famous quote of your sins being as scarlet, but they shall be white as snow though Though they be red like crimson. They shall be as wool. He begins that quote by first saying let us reason together You say why because salvation is through faith believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, but that faith is a reasonable faith Now I'd like to just end by just quoting to you from John 11 verses 25 and 26 These are words of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are words that he said to his followers John 11 25 says this Jesus said unto her Here's what he says. I Am the resurrection and the life he that believeth in me though, he was dead yet shall he live and Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die And then he asks her a question Which is the question of the ages it is the question that has impacted our world Since the time of Christ and there's a question that I hope you will wrestle with today. He said Believest thou this and That's the question I have for you today Do you believe? Do you believe in the resurrected Christ? It requires faith. I'm not gonna lie to you You must believe in Christ, but I just want you to know I just want you to know that it is a reason No That's power heads and have a word of prayer Emily father Thank you Lord for your word Thank you for the Bible Thank you Lord for the fact that we do not have faith in faith we have faith in Christ and that Is not a blind faith but we thank you for sending your son to die on the cross for our sins and more importantly than that We thank you for the resurrection Without the resurrection. Jesus would have just been a person who died like everyone else But the resurrection changes everything We thank you For the resurrected Christ and we thank you that we are not just asked to blindly believe But it's a reasonable faith The matchless name of Christ we pray. Amen. We're gonna have